Sorry, I dropped the ball this week and only just realized a couple hours ago that Thermoworks offered to give away a Thermapen if I ran a giveaway contest that ended this Saturday (tomorrow)! I think this will be the third year in a row that I'll be able to give away the best thermometer I've ever used for cooking. This post will be short so I can get it up quickly, but read on to see how to enter the drawing which will take place on the evening of December 13, 2014.

I think I've written more about the Thermapen than any other single thing on my site. Partly that's because Thermoworks has been very generous in letting me give them away each year (in 2012 and in 2013 when I managed to get Emma to pose adorably with my red one), but also because it's a really, really good thermometer (back in 2005 I tested a variety of different thermometers and the older Thermapen came out on top). It takes accurate readings in less than 4 seconds, is splash-proof, and has more than once saved an expensive cut of meat.

Yes, the Thermapen is expensive at nearly $100 (currently they are selling for $96), but if you cook a turkey, a beef tenderloin, filet mignon, rack of pork, or any other expensive cut having a fast and accurate thermometer is well worth the investment. I trust a Thermapen so much that I will often travel with one just in case I'm asked to cook something.

I should mention that for the last couple years, Cooking For Engineers has been an affiliate of Thermoworks - we get a small percentage of each sale that comes from a link from Cooking For Engineers. This money is used to help pay for some of the serving costs and maintenance of the site. I don't recommend Thermapens because of the affiliate program though. If there was a better thermometer that I've used, I'd be recommending that one instead. I recommend (and so do many other trusted food experts like American's Test Kitchen/Cook's Illustrated, Alton Brown, Rose Levy Beranbaum, Thomas Keller, and others) the Thermapen because it's currently the best cooking thermometer (and one of the best tools to have) out there.

Thermapens come in a variety of colors. If you win, you can pick a red one like the one Emma is holding in the picture above or any of the other standard colors listed on Thermowork's website. (That picture of Emma is from last year... I'm going to try my best to get an picture of her with a Thermapen taken tomorrow and posted to this article before the contest ends.)

Here are the giveaway instructions:

You need to be in the United States or Canada to qualify for this giveaway (Thermowork's shipping requirements).

Join Cooking For Engineers (through the forums) and post a comment telling me you really want a chance to win the Thermapen. I need you to join so, if you win, I'll have an email address to contact you with to get your mailing info so Thermoworks can send you the DOT. I won't have contact information for guest/anonymous posts so I can't include your entry unless you are logged in. (If you are an existing member, be sure to double check your email address on file to make sure it's accurate.)

At some time after 10pm Central Standard Time on December 13, 2014, I'll post a comment signifying the end of the contest. All entries (where I have contact info) above my comment will be eligible to win.

I'll number the participants and generate a random number which will determine the winner and post the winner as well as contact them via email. If there is no response within 24 hours of my email, then I'll pick another number and winner (and so on).

Thanks for catching that error! I knew I was going to make a mistake if I rushed this out. Luckily, it looks like no one accidentally posted on that other thread, so I didn't have to move any comments over.

I would really like a chance to win a Thermapen. The older one I currently have is often used in brewing ale, and has a tendency to clog from the vapor produced by the boil and has to be disassembled to get it working again. I'm told the newer models have fixed this issue.

I need a Thermapen because in two weeks I have to prepare a pork roast and a beef roast for a family gathering. Yup, two roasts, one oven. Plus I'll need to sample the wines for the big meal so I'll need something that's easy to help me check on all that meat.